Make your finances your business.

Tools I Use

This page contains resources that I have found useful in my journey as a Family CEO.

Some of the links below are affiliate links*, meaning they will earn me a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting the site!

Investing

When it comes to investing I believe in simplicity and low costs, and for those reasons I’m a diehard Vanguard investor. People who invest with Vanguard are passionate about the company. Here’s why.

Sources of Found Money

Mr. Rebates* is a great source for online coupons and you’ll earn a 1% to 30% cash back rebate on what you buy online when you go through Mr. Rebates first. I’ve used Mr. Rebates since 2006 and I never shop online without first visiting the site. It’s free to use and you’ll earn a $5 bonus just for signing up.

Ebates* is a site much like Mr. Rebates above. I usually check to see which site is offering better cash back before I shop. The current signup bonus for Ebates is $10.

Managing Money

Quicken*I’ve used Quicken money management software for decades. I use it to reconcile our bank account and track our spending. I’m addicted to the reports feature. I also use Quickbooks*to keep the books and do payroll for my husband’s business.

Charity Navigator evaluates and rates over 5000 charities based on their financial health, transparency, and accountability. I use it to track the charities we’re involved in, like Kiva and CFCA.

Blogging

It’s tempting to start out blogging on free platforms like Blogger or Typepad. But if you want to do anything with your blog (especially make money) you need to 1. choose a blogging platform 2. get your own domain name and 3. arrange hosting. By doing these things you will own your site and will maintain control over it. While blogging this way isn’t free, it’s still very, very affordable as you’ll see below.

WordPress.org WordPress is the gold standard of online platforms. I’ve seen statistics that say that 24% of the web runs on WordPress. WordPress is free, but there are two versions. With WordPress.org you’ll need to arrange your own hosting and domain name, which is a good thing because of that previously mentioned control issue. With WordPress.com that stuff comes free but it’s a bit like being on Blogger or Typepad in that you don’t own your site. Plus you’ll be charged for lots of little extras you might want to do. So WordPress.org is the way to go.

GoDaddy.com A domain name (which is your URL or web address) is available through a variety of places, including through most web hosting companies, which we’ll get to in a minute. I don’t like tying my domain names to a hosting company in case I change companies, which I have had to do once before. I now have all of my domain names (i.e. www.thefamilyceo.com, www.thefamilyceoblog.com, and www.juliemayfield.net) through GoDaddy. Domain names at GoDaddy start at $7.99/year. You can also get cash back on your GoDaddy purchase (as I write this it’s 12% cash back) by first going to Mr. Rebates and then clicking through to GoDaddy from there.

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Disclaimer

The Family CEO is for general information or entertainment purposes only and does not constitute professional financial advice.

In accordance with FTC guidelines, we state that we sometimes have a financial relationship with companies mentioned in this website. This may include advertising revenue, affiliate commissions or access to free products and services for reviews and giveaways.

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